Saithilien

Chapter 6 - The Beginning Of Everything

Juliana excitedly jumped off the taxi cab. She was astonished by the Champ de Mars and gracefully turned around while the cab driver removed her luggage from the cab trunk.

"Paris! I love Paris!" She suddenly grabbed the driver's hands and let him join her graceful spin.

After paying the driver, she started to walk towards the Eiffel tower, and carelessly left her luggage to where it was placed. Her purple dress with black laces caught the people's attention. "Is that Juliana Genovesi?" People murmured as she passed by.

She's almost under the Eiffel tower and then stopped. She repeatedly looked at the tower from bottom to top and folded her arms. "You have a lot of dark secrets, even underneath you." She sighed and went back to her path. The wind blew a bit hard and raindrops started to pour. People panicked and scattered to look for shelter. I want some coffee. Juliana smirked as she saw a coffee shop just across the street. 

"Bonjou--" The cafe manager was surprised to see Juliana entered and was cut off from his greeting.

"Bonjour! I want your best coffee please." Juliana was a bit uncomfortable with the manager's reaction. She sat at the back corner near the glass window and stared at the raindrops pouring heavily. Juliana doesn’t mind that she's the only customer and relaxed herself from the plane trip. She slightly leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes.

She was trapped in a huge hourglass and at any minute she'll be buried alive. Two unknown people broke the glass and reached their hands to help her. 

"Here's your coffee ma'am." A cafe attendant woke her. She was surprised that she fell asleep and immediately straightened her seat. The sweet aroma of the coffee enticed her and slowly took a sip of it. The attendant smiled as she saw Juliana enjoying the coffee. Juliana was suddenly confused. Did I just have a dream?

Katsuro was stunned by what he heard. "This is no ghost." Monique stepped forward and removed Katsuro's left arm from blocking the doorway.

"Let's find out the truth together." Monique smiled and looked up to Katsuro then she held his hand. Katsuro smiled back and they went into the room together. The atmosphere was filled with relief and happiness. The feeling of inseparable slowly came to them as the warmth of their hands combined.

Suddenly a cold hand grabbed Katsuro's ankle and he accidentally dropped on the ground. A girl seemed weak and haggard started to crawl towards Katsuro. 

"AAAAHHHH! I take back what I've said. It's a ghost." Katsuro screamed in fear and suddenly the girl hugged him. "Please help me." The girl whispered in a creaking voice. Monique knelt to the ground and forcibly laughed at Katsuro. "Can ghosts do that?"

Katsuro glared at Monique and took off the girl's arms from wrapping around his neck. "We'll help you." The girl was relieved from hearing those words. "Thank you." She almost cried in her response and suddenly fainted from too much exhaustion.

It's hard for them to recognize the girl because there’s too much darkness. The only thing that's familiar to them is the girl's clothes. She's wearing a black knee-length dress with slightly puffed long sleeves. It has a white lining and a white turtleneck accent.

"She's wearing the exact same clothes like mine. It’s the academy’s uniform, she might be Kasey Woods." Monique sighed in relief.

Heavy rain started pouring and the sun is nowhere to be found. The moon is covered by dark clouds and thunder growls angrily followed by blinding lightning. Thunder and lightning continuously dominate the sky.

"This rain is bad and we need to bring her to the school hospital," Katsuro worriedly said as he looked at the girl lying on his arms. Monique stared furiously at them. Sympathy faded as jealousy unknowingly came to her.

This is so annoying! She pouted and stood up to find something that could cover them from the rain. Katsuro was puzzled watching Monique throwing a tantrum while she went through some of the things in the storage.

"Monique let me help you." Katsuro slowly carried the girl and then put her on top of a box.

"No! I don't need you." Monique blurted while still in a tantrum trying to reach something.

"Really? You don't need me?" Katsuro asked confidently while approaching Monique. "I just don't need you. Sometimes- " Monique stopped and sighed.

"You don't need to feel that way. I'll be your arms when you can't reach something." Katsuro said in a serious voice and reached up to get a huge festive umbrella on top of piled boxes that Monique’s trying to get.

"Whaa--aat?" Monique pouted and looked away from Katsuro. "Hmph! You idiot."

Katsuro was curiously bothered by Monique's reaction. "Nuh! Why am I an i***t? Did I say something wrong?"

"You were obviously out of the topic! Sheez." Monique grabbed the huge umbrella from Katsuro.

The rain stopped as Kasey was finally brought to the school hospital. The school hospital has 10 beds, with a high ceiling. The school nurse had already treated Kasey with first aid. On the side, Monique and Katsuro rubbed themselves with a towel to remove some water they'd collected from the rain.

"The school doctor will arrive tomorrow at exactly 9:00 am. He will immediately attend to Ms. Woods as soon as he arrives." The nurse informed them then she fixed the materials used in the treatment and left their space.

"Oh my!" Ms. Fouche came in worriedly. "What happened? Where'd you--?"

"We found her in the storage room, Miss. It seemed that she was purposely put there and the rumored ghost story prevented her rescue." Monique explained. Suddenly the representatives came and gathered around.

"So it's not a ghost. It was a real human asking for help." Talya said with relief at the same time felt guilty.

Everyone was happy that Kasey was safe but Anna's attention turned to Monique. She was curious yet suspicious of Monique's finding Kasey. 

"Guys. Guys. I think we need to give Kasey some time to rest. It's getting late." Christiaan invited everyone to leave. Afina nodded and they started to walk towards the door.

"You all go ahead. I'll stay with Kasey for tonight." Ms. Fouche said while fixing Kasey's pillow. "Okay, Miss. Goodnight." Everyone waved their hands goodbye to Ms. Fouche.

"You guys are awesome!" Navya happily complimented Monique and Katsuro while heading to their rooms.

Anna stopped and watched the others walk ahead of her. "You okay?" Dara turned to her and asked worriedly. "I need to go somewhere," Anna said ambivalently.

"You sure? It's kinda late already." Dara's still worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Anna smirked and started to walk going in the opposite direction. Dara just watched her walk away.

The bright moonlight gave a glowing accent to the academy's garden, which seemed like magic. Anna glanced at her reflection in a stream and wondered.

"Monique can solve things accurately just by little information. If others can't notice that. Well, I find it extraordinary and interesting." Anna was dazed by her observations. "Navya was not lying about how Monique resolved the mysterious disappearances in Erantha. I personally witnessed her capabilities a while ago." She was bothered by curiosity, the feeling of jealousy, and eagerness to find out Monique's secret came to her.

"What exactly is she?" Anna asked her reflection in deep curiosity and bit her pinky nail.

"I can answer your question."

Anna was surprised and immediately turned to where the voice was coming from. Penelope stepped into the light to show herself and slowly walked towards Anna.

"She's our token to superiority." Penelope grinned.

Mathilde was astounded, the fact that Juliana Genovesi was in her residence sitting on a light pink couch across her.

"I heard that you were the one who suggested to the WLA about the scholarship. I'm glad that my sister was one of the lucky candidates" Mathilde broke the awkward mood and uncomfortably smiled.

Juliana pulled a strawberry lollipop from her pocket and twirled it in her fingers. "She was destined for the scholarship." Juliana noticed Mathilde's discomfort, so she smiled back and offered a chocolate lollipop to her.

Mathilde reached for the lollipop and thanked Juliana shamefully. "I'm wondering. What brings you here? Is my sister alright?" She took away her embarrassment and asked confidently.

"She's alright. I'm just interested in her capabilities. I know you knew what I'm talking about." Juliana unwrapped the lollipop she's holding and looked at Mathilde seriously.

Mathilde was in shock. Her eyes showed fear and doubt. "I don--'t--." She's stammering and unsure of what to say.

Juliana sighed. "I've never encountered a person the same as me. A person that can do what I do."

Mathilde sat beside Juliana, took a deep breath, and started to talk.

"Actually she's an orphan."